Pollution turns Delhi into 'gas chamber'
Although air pollution hit this year’s worst level in India, Hindu faithful gather for the festival of Chatth Puja in the Yamuna River in New Delhi on Sunday.
Air pollution in New Delhi and surrounding towns in India reached the worst level so far this year on Sunday, with authorities in the world’s most-polluted capital city having already declared a public health emergency and closed schools.
The air quality index, measuring levels of PM2.5, tiny particulate matter in the air, deteriorated to above 900, way over the 500-level that qualifies as “severe-plus.”
Aside from the harm, it was doing to the lungs of some 40 million people living in the capital region. Furthermore, more than 30 flights were diverted from Delhi airport due to poor visibility.
Roads looked deserted as large numbers of people stayed home, rather than expose themselves to the noxious atmosphere outside.
“Pollution has reached unbearable levels across the north India,” Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi’s chief minister, said in a message on twitter.
The government environment monitoring agency SAFAR warned that no relief was expected for the next one to two days, as humidity from light rains overnight exacerbated pollution already driven higher by seasonal crop stubble burning in surrounding states.
“Delhi has turned into a gas chamber as the pollution levels hit the ‘severe+’ category,” said Sachin Taparia, head of Local Circles, a Delhi-based consultancy that surveys government policies and programs.
